Gun owners show Starbucks love

First the fiscal cliff, now the Second Amendment — Starbucks is once again brewing in the national political conversation.

Ed Levine, a northern-Virginia man who founded Virginia Open Carry, told POLITICO that this is the second year in which he’s encouraged people to buy from the Seattle-based coffee giant, urging gun supporters to buy coffee there Friday.

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Why? Last year, he heard that Starbucks would not kick out patrons from a store who were carrying firearms because it did not violate state laws, despite other patrons’ requesting the store to do so. Those patrons had organized a boycott against Starbucks last February, so Levine fought back.

And for Starbucks — by trying to downplay the issue, they dove right into it.

Fast forward a year later: Given the recent emergence of a national debate on gun control (and not wanting to add more confusion for Starbucks employees on an already busy Valentine’s Day), Levine said he changed the date to 2-22 to symbolize the Second Amendment. He’s also encouraging folks to use $2 bills.

“Other businesses should learn from Starbucks. They should simply let the states where the stores are deal with the laws — if you make and sell coffee, do that and don’t get involved with the gun laws,” Levine told POLITICO.

Starbucks spokesman Zack Hutson told The Washington Post earlier this week that their “longstanding position is to comply with local laws in the communities we serve.”

He added: “We think that’s the right way to ensure a safe environment for our partners.”

Hutson told POLITICO that Starbucks “deeply” respects the views of people on both sides of the gun debate.

No stranger to the political limelight, Starbucks has remained tight-lipped about the contentious debate. Levine said he’s talked to them but that they’re “not looking for the limelight” on this issue.

Earlier this year, Starbucks dipped into the fiscal cliff debate by having employees write “come together” on all cups of coffee purchased in Washington-based stores to urge lawmakers to reach a deal.

“Rather than be bystanders, we have an opportunity — and I believe a responsibility — to use our company’s scale for good by sending a respectful and optimistic message to our elected officials to come together and reach common ground on this important issue,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote in a public letter at the time.

Hutson declined comment on whether Starbucks is planning anything for the March 1 deadline for sequestration, when $1.2 trillion in automatic federal spending cuts for the next decade begin.